Monday, August 15, 2011

77°01.526’ W

38°52.721’ N

Gangplank Marina

Washington, D.C.

Today the four of us walked to the U.S. Capitol to see the new visitor center that opened December 2, 2008. The 580,000 sq. foot facility 

U. S. Capitol

 is something to behold. Once inside, the surroundings are beautiful, spacious and air conditioned! There is a great deal of security every where but once through a security check your free to see all that’s presented at your leisure.

Via my daughter Jill, Barb called a contact on the way to the Capitol and got tickets to visit the house gallery. 

Statue of Freedom
(plastic medel)

Our tour guide was very personable and informative as she escorted us around the building. The four of us enjoyed every minute of the tour! We went for a short visit and ended up spending the whole day! Everything within the Capitol and the Center is first class and I highly recommended a visit. And yes - we did find a place to purchase ice cream in the Capitol!

  



National Statuary Hall



From the Capitol building we visited the Library of Congress via a new underground passage connecting the two buildings. 

"The Apotheosis of Washington"
(inside the Capitol dome)

On our return to the marina we stopped at the Air and Space museum for a quick visit to see if any of the projects that I was associated with while working at the University  of Chicago are on display. I was pleased to see numerous projects 

Library of Congress

built at the University on display.

It is a little sad to know what was once cutting edge technology is now outdated and no longer useful! 

Exhibit in Library of Congress

On the other hand a lot of the advances taking place today are a continuation of work that was done during my time at the University. I guess that’s what you call progress!

Tomorrow we plan to visit -------------------?

Exhibit in Library of Congress

 



Barb & John








 

Barb & Skip




 

Another view of the U. S. Capitol

Along the way

Skylab

Hubble Space Telescope